Knowledgebase

Harvesting Asparagus #868918

Asked May 17, 2024, 3:02 PM EDT

I live in Fairfax. We have a well-established bed of asparagus (Jersey Giant) that is about 8-years old. We typically harvest asparagus for 6-7 weeks, with the harvest start date being dependent on the weather. This year we were out-of-state from mid-April until May 13. We had asked our neighbors to help themselves to our asparagus and some did, but on our return we found that a good portion of the bed was untouched, with many stalks about 2-3' high (and growing!). My question is this: should we cut these stalks back and harvest as we normally do for another 4-5 weeks or would that do more harm than good. Please advise. Thanks!

Franklin County Vermont

Expert Response

Hi Mark,

Thank you for reaching out to the UVM Extension Master Gardener Program with your question. It sounds as though you would like to harvest as usual this year but want to make sure the garden produces well next year also. I would say there are tradeoffs in your situation that you have to weigh. There are many unknowns, for example, when the garden started producing this year and how heavy the neighbors harvested already. If the garden is still producing normal spears then I would suggest that you can harvest those. A suggestion from research of when to completely stop harvesting is when

  • “Spear growth and emergence have slowed down considerably.

  • Spear width is less than pencil size.

  • Heads are ferning out (expanding) on spears less than six inches tall.”

https://extension.umn.edu/vegetable-growing-guides-farmers/harvesting-asparagus#:~:text=Harvesting%20for%20too%20long%20stresses,gradual%20decline%20in%20plant%20health.

I haven't seen any information about cutting asparagus ferns back to extend a harvest but most opinions state that you should let them grow. An article from the Cornell Cooperative Extension suggests that you do

"not cut back the ferns (flowers) in Fall until they die naturally. This ensures that enough energy and nutrients have been produced for the next year's crop!"

https://monroe.cce.cornell.edu/agriculture/seasonal-produce-highlights/asparagus

Thank you for your question and I hope this information helps you figure out what to do. Best of luck!

Lisa Burg, UVM Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Replied May 19, 2024, 9:27 PM EDT

Loading ...